We’ve always promised ourselves we would record some extra podcasts. As we’ve caught with the magazine release we thought it was time for such an episode… So we decided to look at the Chariot Race in Ben-Hur.

Angus, Josho, Murray, Marc and Mark were joined by David Reinke who ,with Graham Sumner, writes the film articles for Ancient Warfare Magazine…

It proved to be a marathon recording, and we were terrible at staying on topic of the Chariot race… I hope you enjoy us wandering round the subject...

"Once people began to live in settled villages, they started to identify themselves not just based on their language and culture, but also on where they lived. Farmers became, to a lesser or larger extent, tied to the soil. As villages grew into cities and cities became the centres of larger city-states, kingdoms, and even empires, it became ever more important to define territories in a visible way, and to defend them whenever necessary."

Don’t forget if you missed the issue you can pick up your copy from ancient-warfare.com. Better still why not subscribe! That way you’ll be fully versed in the subject before you listen to the podcast!

I’m joined by stalwarts of the podcast Josho Bouwers, Murray Dahm, Mark MaCaffery and Marc de Santis.

"When we think about warfare in the ancient world, the first thing that probably pops into mind are images of men, clad in armour, fighting each other. Battle usually draws a lot of attention, and there have been many heated discussions about the nature and mechanics of combat. By comparison, there is often less interest in what happens after battle has been decided and the dust has settled. But the aftermath of conflict is no less interesting than the fight itself, as this issue of Ancient Warfare magazine will demonstrate."

"The First Punic War (264 to 241 BC ) was the longest uninterrupted war in antiquity and the beginning of a series of military conflicts between Carthage and Rome. During the struggle, these ancient powers fought for the control of Sicily, a strategic point in the central Mediterranean. In the end, Rome was victorious and Carthage lost Sicily."

"Anatolia juts out from Asia and forms an important gateway to Europe. Essentially a large peninsula, it borders Syria in the south, Mesopotamia in the east, and the Aegean in the west. Over the course of time, it has been the home of a remarkable number of different peoples, speaking a great variety of different languages. In the second millennium BC , a powerful kingdom arose whose leaders rubbed shoulders with mighty rulers from other parts of the Near East: the kingdom of the Hittites." More

"The women of Sparta screamed at the sight of the flames that raged just across from the bridge over the Eurotas. Their men were in a panic, rushing to prepare and defend the unwalled city. Fighting had broken out in the nearby village of Amyclae. Lacedaemonians were falling to the earth, dead. The soil of Sparta had been invaded for the first time in centuries. The mightiest warriors of Greece were at the mercy of a new order in the Hellenic world. Thebes had finally ascended to its place of power and control. All it needed to do was learn from the mistakes that Sparta had made."

"On 4 September AD 476, the Western Roman Empire came to an end. No great battle was fought, no great foreign invasion force marched upon the capital, nor was there an iconic enemy in the shape of a second Hannibal who annihilated Rome’s armies and broke down the emperor’s gates. Odoacer of the Germanic Sciri tribe and military commander in Rome’s employ, simply marched into the city of Ravenna after being proclaimed king by his troops, and dethroned the last Roman Emperor in the West."

In this episode Angus is joined by regulars Josho, Murray, Lindsay, Mark and with special guest Owen Rees. Its a lively discussion looking at Ancient Warfare Magazine volume, VIII issue 6 "The Roman conquest of Greece"

"From the northern rivers and plains of Macedon to the southern heart of the peninsula – amongst whose ragged mountains and plateaux nestled the venerable poleis of old Greece – countless kingdoms, city-states, leagues, and tribes struggled by turns for supremacy and survival in a flux of ever-changing alliances. Into this world, already ancient before their arrival, crashed the youthful republic of Rome that, although relatively unknown at the outset, eventually came to dominate a region once so fiercely independent."

"It is well known that in the opening statement of his Jewish War, Flavius Josephus imitates the fifth-century BC Athenian Thucydides when he says that “the war of the Jews against the Romans is not only the greatest of the wars of our own time, but so far as accounts have reached us, nearly of all whichever broke out between cities or nations”."

"Seleucus, who eventually acquired the epithet ‘Nicator’ was not a prime candidate to succeed to the largest share of Alexander the Great’s empire when the king died in Babylon in 323 BC. He certainly held some rank in Alexander’s chain of command, but he was not a member of the inner circle, and a host of men had greater claim to rule. As things turned out, this was a good thing for Seleucus, as an early start in the age of the successors usually meant an early end."

"Cimmerians. Sarmatians. Scythians. Horsemen of the steppes. They emerged from the fog of prehistory around the eighth century BC. Semi-nomadic, they dominated the Pontic Steppes for a millennium. Over centuries, pressure from one steppe people against another kicked off great migratory patterns. The mobile, agile and ferocious horsemen became a scourge upon their more civilized neighbours to the south. Other migrations took them west into Central and Western Europe and east as far as Mongolia."

"The ancient Greeks originally divided themselves into four major tribes, namely the Dorians, Aeolians, Achaeans, and Ionians. Each of these tribes also spoke a distinct dialect (Doric, Aeolic, Ionic), apart from the Achaeans, who used a form of Doric. The Athenians believed themselves to be the original Ionians and spoke a variant dialect called Attic. The focus of this issue is on the Ionian Greeks. Outside of Attica, Ionians lived on the island of Euboea, on the Cyclades, and in colonies settled in the central part of the west coast of Asia Minor, as well as on the islands off its coast, such as Chios and Samos."

"The ancient world had its fair share of brave and courageous men, who stayed the course despite profound adversity or who seemed to laugh in the face of death. However, our sources also include accounts of people who – out of fear, for personal gain, or some combination of these and other factors – decided to betray their friends, their country, or their principles."

"With Marcus Aurelius, the Roman Empire was for the first time ruled by two emperors, both adoptive sons of the late Emperor Antoninus Pius (r. AD 138–161). Marcus had selected his nine-year-younger adoptive brother Lucius Verus to be his co-emperor. The two individuals could not have been more different in character. While the ascetic Marcus, whose main interest was philosophy, had been taught to “avoid the ways of the rich” (Meditations 1.3.), critics declaimed against Lucius’ luxurious lifestyle and his habits."

"The march of the Ten Thousand is one of the best documented campaigns in Greek military history, thanks to the detailed narrative of Xenophon. He was a young Athenian expatriate who eventually rose to a senior position of command among the Hellenic survivors of Cyrus’ mercenary army."

Josho once more hosts this episode joined by Murray, Michael and Lindsay.

"Looking at ancient warfare through the lens of a logistician and discussing the army train provides a unique way of understanding combat operations. It is often said that amateurs discuss tactics and professionals discuss logistics. No combat operation would happen without the support of supplies, equipment, men, animals, and materiel to sustain those operations"

With Jasper away Josho is joined by regulars Lindsay Powell, Murray Dahm and guest Mark McCaffery.

"The rise of Early Republican Rome, from leading city in Latium to imperial power dominating peninsular Italy, seems inexorable. The Romans' aggression, competitive nature and habit of annual campaigning -- for land, slaves, booty and glory -- are often cited as the stimuli for conquest."

"Created by the gods and land of the giants, Sicily was a wealthy but deadly prize that dangled in front of many ancient powers. The unfortunate island would be subjected to a seemingly endless series of wars fought by people from all over the ancient Mediterranean. For centuries, the Greeks and Carthaginians would bludgeon each other to the point of exhaustion over a desire to dominate the island. Heeding the siren’s call, the power of Athens would be dashed against Sicily’s rocks. Like a lover forced to choose between two suitors, Sicily would choose Rome over Carthage and thus accelerate the demise of the latter." More

Jasper, Josho, Murray and Lindsay are joined by Egyptologist Arianna Sacco to discuss Ancient Warfare Magazine VII.1Warriors of the Nile, Conflict in ancient Egypt.

"One of the earliest civilizations in the world, the culture of ancient Egypt blossomed along the banks of the River Nile. Around 3000 BC, the country was already a unified kingdom ruled by a single king. Its powerful rulers built impressive monuments in the form of the famous pyramids during the so-called Old and Middle Kingdoms, many of which still endure to this day. Egyptian civilization would reach even greater heights during the New Kingdom (1549–1069 BC), when its warrior-kings ventured more boldly beyond the safety of their own borders to forge an actual empire." more

Jasper, Josho, Michael and Lindsay discuss the meaty topic of the Celts in the classical world (issue VI 6).

"In 106 BC, a Roman army captured the Gallic stronghold of Tolosa and appropriated a vast treasure hoard. It was soon claimed that they had recaptured the spoils that a band of marauding Gauls had originally looted from the Greek sanctuary at Delphi in 279 BC. The claim, while dubious at best, nonetheless illustrates the ancient tendency to lump Celtic peoples together, treating separate raids by distinct peoples as part of a single menace. In the ancient retelling, both Rome and Greece were sacked by a chieftain named Brennus (albeit in different centuries), a neat onomastic coincidence that is likely too good to be true." More

"When Emperor Alexander Severus was assassinated in AD 235, the Roman Empire fell into an abyss that it would only crawl out of after almost fifty years. Roman armies clashed in struggles for the throne, with generals proclaimed emperor by their troops and then meeting violent ends a few months later – often at the hands of those same troops. Besides this internal power struggle, the Empire was also plagued by attacks from without."

In this our first video / audio recording Jasper, Michael, Lindsay and Josho look at Pyrrhus.

Pyrrhus was the second cousin to Alexander the Great, and at only two years he began his career as a penniless exile after his father was dethroned. Pyrrhus would rise to become King of Epirus, King of Macedon and King of Sicily...

True cavalry with men mounted on horse back started to appear from the 9th century BC, as chariots were slowly replaced. Imposing they were used in shock charges, their rapid movement made them ideal for reconnoissance, screening an army and for chasing down the enemy. Though despite there usefulness they only remained a small part of a Mediterranean army, comprising of perhaps only some 10% of the total numbers. In the late Roman empire period cavalry drawn from Northern Europe became more prevalent.

The expense of the horse and equipment often made it the province of aristocrats, creating at times divisions in social and political status between that of the infantry and cavalry.

In this episode Jasper, Josho, Murray, Lindsay and Michael consider questions of the tactical roll of the cavalry, the logistics of providing for the cavalry and their weapons and equipment, and the social status of the cavalry and use of "Barbarians".

The Dacians lived in modern day Romania, they had long been a threat along the borders of the Roman Empire. In 101AD Trajan launched the first of two campaigns against Dacia, eventually it would become a Roman province. Though poorly documented the conflict is celebrated on Trajans column in the centre of Rome, providing a spiralling view of the campaign, and at Adamclisi (in modern day Romania) which depicts brutal fighting between Roman Legionaries and Dacian warriors.

Jasper, Josho, Michael and Lindsay discuss how these actions fit in with other actions along Romans frontiers, a look at arms and armour, the lack of sources when looking at the campaign and we take a look at Trajan himself.

Jasper and the team are joined by Josho Brouwers to discus warfare in archaic Greece. After Michael's summary of the period we go on to look at the phalanx, how it might function, the equipment the men carried, the suitability of the geography for this type of fighting and what that meant for the numbers of men deployed in the field.

Also touched upon is why the cities fought one another, was it just drunken Greeks tooled up and spoiling for a fight to assert their manliness?

Jasper and the team discuss Ancient Warfare I.4, The Roman Conquest of Spain. It took over 200 years for Rome to pacify Spain, why did it take them so long? Did local fragmentation politically make it difficult for an all out victory that was so often achieved in the East? We look at issues of leadership in the Roman army, and recruitment.

Jasper, Murray and Lindsay are joined by Michael Park to look at Elite units of the Hellenistic Era, the discussion revolves round what is elite and how do you define elite, which proved more troublesome that one may expect.

Dont forget if you want more information on the magazine you can find their website at www.ancient-warfare.com

In the usual wide ranging discussion Jasper, Michael, Lindsay and special guest Jesse Obert look at the Roman Navy. Questioning the received view of the fleets being used in anti piracy duties, and were the fleets even standing forces or more of an adhoc thing brought together when needs must?

And the fleets what kind of shipping did they comprise of, and how did they make war?

In this episode we look at the Assyrians, 930BC to 630BC, their empire stretched from Egypt to Babylon, it was the first great iron age empire with resources to fund a standing army equipped with iron weapons. They excelled at siege warfare, something very difficult to successfully achieve in the ancient world. We delve into all these aspects plus look at the putting down of internal descent, propaganda, chariots and the use of specialised infantry.

The Sassanid Empire would prove to be the last of the Persian middle-eastern empires, and would also be the last great ‘civilised’ rival of Rome. The Great Achaemenid Persian Empire, founded by Cyrus the Great, had displaced the Babylonians in the Middle-East. Ultimately, it sprawled from the Mediterranean to northern India. This empire, the largest in the world, had been overthrown by the meteoric career of a western ‘barbarian’ named Alexander of Macedon, but he did not survive to consolidate his conquest and it quickly split up with various parts being ruled by Alexander’s successors, who warred among one another with none succeeding in re-uniting the former Achaemenid Empire.

With Ian Hughes joining the regulars, they discuss the problem of gaps in the historical evidence that have to be negotiated when looking at the period, and the long lasting conflict with Rome.

Jasper, Lindsay, Murray and Mike discuss the use of bodyguards from Alexanders men having to prevent him from getting into harm through to being a symbol of power in Rome, and of course a long look at the Pretorian guard.

The team discuss the daily routine of troops in the ancient world when garrisoned. Through examples found at Vindolanda we investigate sickness rates of soldiers, the freedom they had whilst not on duty and what would happen to them if they could no longer serve.

Gaius Marius is credited with introducing wide ranging reforms which would transform the Roman Army into the professional machine of the Empire. Elected consul and unprecedented seven times, he authorised landless citizens to do military service (something that may have lead to the eventually down fall of the Roman Empire as troops became bound to their Generals to ensure their care), he gave them fixed duration of service and as such established a standing army.

But were all of Marius's reforms his own? What was there impact? And was he the great a leader as we are allowed to believe? In a lively discussion Jasper, Lindsay, Murray and Michael discuss Ancient Warfare magazine V-1, The 'new man' who saved Rome. Gaius Marius at War.

Jasper and team go back to the first Ancient Warfare magazine and discuss the career of Gnaeus Julius Agricola, the issues of the sources such a Tacitus and his use of axillery troops among over things.

Gnaeus Julius Agricola was govenor of Britain from 77AD, he was responsible for much of the expansion of Roman terrioty in Britain and sent his army North into Caledonia, modern day scotland. After an unusually length period as governor he returned to Rome in 85AD.

Jasper, Murray, Michael and Lindsay discuss a the post Alexander Hellenistic world looking at uniforms (or lack of) and the colours they might be, Ross Cowans article sticks and stones and the use of low tech improvised weapons. Michael elaborates on his piece covering the Amphipolis regulation, disciplinary measures of the Macedonian army. And other issues such as Gigantism that the last issue of the magazine touched upon.

A look at the Italian peninsular and the existing peoples before Rome took control. Jasper discusses with Murray Dahm, Lindsay Powell and Michael Taylor issues that the magazine brought up. Dur: 45min File: MP3

Before Radios existed, co ordinating the tactical movements of thousands of men on the battlefield would have required a well organised system of transmitting commands. In the ancient world these commands would be transmitted by trumpets and horns and accompanied by visual standards.

Jasper discusses with Murray Dahm, Lindsay Powell and Michael Taylor issues that the magazine brought up. For more information on the magazine go to www.ancient-warfare.com and comments, questions or suggestions email them to editor@ancient-warfare.com

Classical heroes: The warrior in history and legend Jasper discusses with Murray Dahm, Lindsay Powell and Sidney Dean issues that the magazine brought up. For more information on the magazine go to www.ancient-warfare.com and comments, questions or suggestions email them to editor@ancient-warfare.com Dur:47min

To commemorate the 2000th anniversary of the loss of legions XVII, XVIII (aka XIIX) and XIX somewhere in northern Germany, Ancient Warfare magazine published a special issue. In this episode of the podcast Jasper discusses with Murray Dahm and Lindsay Powell issues that the magazine brought up. File: .mp3 Dur: 1hr

Alexander & The Wars of the Successors Jasper is joined by Michael Taylor, Michael Park, Murray Dahm and Philip Lindsay Powell to discuss Alexander and the wars of his successors. Dur: 42min File: .mp3 For more information on the magazine go to www.ancient-warfare.com and comments, questions or suggestions email them to editor@ancient-warfare.com

War as a livelihood - Mercenaries in the Ancient world Jasper is joined by Michael Taylor, Paul Bardunias and Albert Perez Rubio to discuss Mercenaries in the acient world. Dur: 37min File: .mp3 For more information on the magazine go to www.ancient-warfare.com and comments, questions or suggestions email them to editor@ancient-warfare.com

Jasper is joined by Christian Koepfer, Glenn Barnett and regular Murray Dahm to discuss the Rome In Crisis, the third age AD. Dur: 30min File: .mp3 For more information on the magazine go to www.ancient-warfare.com and comments, questions or suggestions email them to editor@ancient-warfare.com

Jasper is joined by Murray Dahm, Joe Pietrykowski and Paul McDonnell-Staff to dicuss victory and defeat in the ancient world. For more information on the magazine go to www.ancient-warfare.com and comments, questions or suggestions email them to editor@ancient-warfare.com Dur:35min File: .mp3

Jasper Oorthuys and the contributers of this issue of Ancient Warfare Magazine discuss the theme of this issue of the Magazine, light infantry and auxiliaries. For more information on the magazine go to www.ancient-warfare.com Dur: 19min File: .mp3